Lucas Meets World
by Nicolette134
Summary: Let's give Lucas a little more character, no? Lucas-centric, Laya
1. Chapter 1

Lucas has a gift to- he reads people well. That's how he knew that Riley was the right choice for his first crush in the city, even though he'd initially been more attracted to Maya. He knew that Riley would show him around, catch him up in school, and introduce him to other _nice_ kids and he knew Maya would be trouble, plain and simple.

Lucas also knows that bullies are the way they are because they themselves are insecure. Not that he would necessarily say Maya was 'bullying' him, but even if he did feel that way he would know that she only wants to "break him", as she says, because she views him as a threat to her friendship with Riley, which she desperately clings to. Instead of reacting the way she wants him to and allowing her to get a rise out of him, he allows her to stomp around and make fun of him, awarding her antics with a tip of the hat and a rose.

Lucas notices other things about Maya too. The way she _says_ she isn't embarrassed or disappointed by her mother, but acts quite differently. That's why, after Mr. Matthew's history class, he skips French to go find her in the art room. There are no classes there in the afternoon, so he figured that's where she'd go, somewhere where she wouldn't have to hide. And that's where he finds her.

"Fancy meeting you here, ma'am," he says, gently knocking on the door to the room. He sees her shape bent up over her sketch pad, she's finishing her drawing from the other day, Farkle the Bird.

"There ain't room in this town for the both of us cowboy," she jokes halfheartedly, "get lost."

"What if I don't want to?" he asks, sitting as close to her as he dares to without actually sitting _next_ to her, because while he isn't exactly scared of the smaller girl, he isn't sure he necessarily _isn't _scared of her either.

"I'll make you," she said, glaring at him, a stare he's seen work on many, many other people, but one that didn't quite faze him, because he saw through it.

"No you won't," he said, inching closer, "you know how I know?"

"How?" she asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"Because," he pointed to her drawing, "you, Maya Hart, are a _nice_ girl."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, partner," she said, pulling farther from him and taking her sketch pad with her, "you can't just follow me in here and start accusing me of things."

"Yes I can," he laughed, "Wanna know why?"

"Why?" she mumbled, eyes rolling.

"Because you like me," he nudged her and, noticing her incredulous stare quickly added, "I mean, we're friends."

"Friends?" she repeated, "You and me? I don't know, Howdy Doody."

"Think about it," he said, realizing he wasn't going to get through to her right now, "I'll be seeing ya. And you know I'm always around, if you need to talk."

She mumbled a goodbye at his retreating back, but he stopped when he passed another one of her pieces, a diner scene that was only half finished.

"Riley's right you know," he said abruptly, turning back to her, "You should do the art night."

* * *

Of course the night of the art show he was there to support his friend, and he was pleased to note that she had even submitted the diner painting.

"It's really good Maya," he said, smiling warmly although she scowled.

"Yeah, well, whatever," came the response, "I wasn't going to, but Riley signed me up and all, so here I am."

"Good for you," he said, nodding in appreciation.

"She's not gonna come, you know," she said, "Just a heads up, in case you care. Riley's gonna be all disappointed, maybe that'll be your moment."

"Is Riley going to be the only one disappointed?" he asked, carefully.

"Unless you and Farkle are holding out hope too," she shrugged, ignoring his obvious suggestion that _she_ might be the one disappointed.

"I think we'll be okay," he said, "but it would be great if she showed, right? Plus, I want to apologize to her."

"For what?" the small blonde asked, confused. Nobody else confused her as much or as often as the much taller boy.

"Asking about her uniform after she ignored Farkle. I didn't know, I thought it was for a part or something," he explained. He'd been feeling bad about it since the woman had run out of the room.

"Hey, don't feel bad about that," Maya brushed it off, "She needs to quit pretending so much, you know? It's good to join the rest of us in the real world every once in a while."

"Still," he pushed. He was too much of a gentleman not to feel bad when he'd clearly hurt both Ms. Hart and Maya.

"Well she won't be here, so I'll just have to pass along the apology for you," Maya cut him off.

"Promise?" he said, smirking slightly, pinkie extended for a swear.

"Hart's don't make promises," she said, "We're not good at keeping them."

"Fine," he said, "I'll just have to trust you."

He kept an eye on her the rest of the night. She didn't seem too upset, but he could still tell it stung a little that everyone, even Riley's parents came, but her mother. He wished he'd been able to stop Farkle before he'd asked about the half woman in the painting, but there wasn't much to do after the fact except to hang around a little in case Maya needed to talk to someone. He knew the girl would probably rather eat toenails than admit to him that she was upset about her mom, but with Riley bailing like she had he knew she also didn't have many other options. He thought it rather odd that the brunette had run out of the school like she had. Anyone could guess where she was going, but he couldn't figure out why. Riley couldn't possibly think that it was more important for her to deal with Ms. Hart than to be there for Maya right? Because that would be kind of ridiculous. The more he hung out with Riley and Maya, the more he realized how immature the first girl was, versus the second. Maya wasn't necessarily responsible, in the traditional sense of the word, but she was more street smart, and very protective of Riley. Maya was jaded, but he didn't exactly mind it. It was definitely more interesting than Riley's shy, innocent routine.


	2. Chapter 2

Lucas liked debate and had been, well, _debating_ whether or not he should join the team for a while now. He could use another extracurricular, and needed something to do to kill time before baseball season. He didn't want to admit it, but he was a baseball player. And a bit of a cowboy. He's a cowboy jock, like everyone guesses, but maybe, just maybe, the debate team will be a way for him to break out of that stereotype. He'd do something different, surprise people a little. Maybe it would even impress Riley and Maya. Well, everything impressed Riley, but it was quite a bit harder to get Maya's attention.

Everyone assumed he and Riley would become a couple, and sure, Riley was nice and she was pretty, but Maya was just so much _more._ More everything, you know? She was nice, even if she pretended she wasn't, she was funny, she was just more complex. He had to work to get her, and he had to admit he liked the challenge. The problem was he was worried he was being too obvious about his secret crush on the blonde girl.

He jumped at the opportunity to play a prank on her when Mr. Matthews approached him about it. He didn't mind when Ranger Roy replaced Ranger Rick, because at least it meant she was paying attention to him. So he'd tip his hat and hat and smile that smile and usually made girls melt, but just made her shiver with disgust and disdain. At the end of the day he'd passed by the detention room to say bye and toss her a pack of poptarts to snack on. It was pathetic, he knew, but he was determined to win the small girl over.

When Riley and Maya gave Smackle a makeover it only supported his theory that Maya was secretly a nice girl. They _both_ were always helping others, Riley just gets all the credit. And they'd done a really good job on Smackle too, she looked great. He couldn't help but notice Riley's slight frown when he'd said so, or how it had contrasted Maya's slight smile. Was she pleased that they'd done a good job, or please that he'd bother Riley? How much was he reading into things? How much was too much?

Lucas was into Maya, he couldn't help it. He knew that there was something inside her, that she was more than she let on to being, and he wanted to be the one to bring her out of her shell. Selfish though it was, he wanted to be the one to "safe" her, even though everyone was always saying that Riley was going to save her.

On the other hand, who said anyone needed to save her? She was doing just fine on her own. She was happy most of the time, she had friends and family, and she had her art. Smackle was proof that she can use her powers for good and not evil, and she was smart too. Smarter than she let on at least. He knew she knew the answers to the questions in class, even though she never answered them, they all knew it, even the teachers. The only reason she was doing so poorly was because she didn't apply herself, as cliched as that sounds.

Maya's the type of person that didn't want to put herself out there, in case she got hurt. Her life motto was you can't be disappointed if you're expectations are low enough. Her own mother couldn't hurt her, the only one who has enough of her to break her heart is Riley, and he knew that's why they could never date. As long as Riley had a crush on him, Maya would never _dream_ of going near him, for fear of losing her best friend. Same thing applied to Farkle, more or less. The girl would never let him near enough to her for them to have any sort of romantic relationship, because she knew if things went south she'd lose him as a friend.

Lucas knew he had to ride the fine line between being someone she could trust and someone she wouldn't mind losing. If they got too close too fast he'd scare her away, but if he kept his distance, or let her win their little "game", they could never have any relationship, friends or more. Not being in her life, and Riley's and Farkle's, 'cause they were his best friends in this crazy city, would be worse the worst thing that could happen.

* * *

He hoped that Smackle's arrival and new appearance would shake things up in the group. That Farkle would go for her and bring her into the group and then Maya would have someone new to get used to, and that Lucas would feel comfortable compared to her. But it didn't seem that it would last between the two of them, he wasn't necessarily ready for a relationship; he was a bit immature for his age, even though he was a total brainiac. He acted like he was so in love with Riley and Maya, but that was just a schoolboy crush, nothing would ever come of it. He and Riley would be perfect together though. They're both so child-like and innocent, not that he wasn't. He was nowhere near as jaded and world-weary as Maya, but he'd been through his share of stuff. He'd seen things back home and, well, he didn't like to dwell on the past, but he wasn't the same person he'd been back then, and while he wasn't on the same level as Maya in terms of messy family life and a rough back-story, he wasn't the naive little kid that his two other best friends were. Maybe that's why he felt so protective of them, he wanted to keep that part of them pure as long as possible, because once you lose that, you're done. Maya knew that, and so did he.


	3. Chapter 3

He wasn't mad when Farkle called Riley as his partner. He wasn't miffed, bothered, annoyed, upset, or agitated, which is confusing as hell because he's supposed to _like_ the girl for goodness sakes.

But instead he got Maya.

"So," he said, approaching the blonde girl on the subway after school, "Wanna get together and work on the project today?"  
"I think it's best if you take the reins on this one, Cowboy. I'm not big on school work, in case you haven't noticed," she laughed in his face, pun fully intended.  
"Maybe that works on some people," the tall boy allowed allowed, "But I'm not going to do your part of the assignment for you. We're partners, we have to be a team."  
"Fine, Ranger Rick," she said, huffily, "I'll work on the project with you. Anything to make you stop with that darn equality speech. You really like to complicate things; Riley and Farkle never make me do any work."  
"Well you're not getting away with that with me," he laughed, "Where do you wanna go to work on it, your house or mine?"  
"Yours," she answered curtly. Riley had mentioned once or twice that Maya lived in a bad neighborhood- to the point where the brunette was scared to spend the night there- and he wondered fleetingly if Maya was embarrassed for him to see where she lived. He doubted it though, Maya Hart does not embarrass easily.  
Plus, she'd soon she she had nothing to be embarrassed about, because his _apartment,_ he kept forgetting it wasn't a _house_, wasn't too hot either. The neighborhood was probably better than hers, sure, but not nearly as nice as Riley and Farkle's. Back when he'd lived in Texas they had a huge plot of land, but when his parents divorced and his mom headed for New York, taking him with her, they couldn't quite live to the standards they were used to. His dad had been the money maker in the family, but his mom was looking for jobs everyday, so that they wouldn't have to rely so much on the former "man of the house" to, you know, _pay_ for the house. Apartment. Whatever.  
"My place it is," he shrugged, "We can walk together from this stop."  
"Yeah, okay," she said, before putting on her county voice and starting a jig, "Golly, I can't believe I'm going to Ranger Rick's- are we gonna have a hoedown?"  
"Why yes ma'am," he said, hooking her arm in his, "Maybe we'll even get to tip a cow or two."  
"Well, yeehaw, partner!" laughed the little blonde, skipping along with the taller boy, all the way to his apartment.

She tried to mask her surprise at the neighborhood they had entered, and again at the site of his apartment. It wasn't much bigger than hers, although it was a lot cleaner and more homey looking. She had assumed his apartment would be like the Mathews', or Farkle's; spacious, decorated, in a safe neighborhood in a building with a doorman, that sort of thing.  
But it wasn't, and for some reason, that made the little blonde girl, well, not _happy,_ per-say, but, yeah, okay, she was happy. His place wasn't as bad as her's, but it wasn't as great as she'd been expecting either. And this is the sort of neighborhood that Riley would be scared to spend the night at, not that she _should_ be spending the night here any time soon, but she definitely wouldn't want to if she were. Either way, suddenly Maya didn't feel so bad about her own home. And that made her happy.  
Lucas' mom was home, and Maya could tell right away that she was a Topanga, and _not_ a Katy.  
"Hi Luke," his mother called from the kitchen as soon as they walked into the apartment.  
"Hi Mom," responded the tall boy, grabbing Maya's arm to pull her into the kitchen, out of the hallway she'd been hiding in, "This is Maya. We're working on a project together."  
"So this is the girl you've told me so much about," replied Mrs. Friar, wiping her hands on her apron and heading over to shake the girl's hand.  
"No, no," Maya shook her head, "You must be thinking of Riley."  
"Nope," Mrs. Friar corrected, "Definitely you, Maya. I'm sure you're thrilled to be working with, what was it again? _Hopalong?"_  
_"Mom,"_ moaned Lucas, blushing a little, "We don't need to bring that up, okay?"  
"Okay, Hun," she laughed, and Maya thought that she had a nice, happy laugh. She seemed like a nice, happy person altogether, and she could tell where Luca got his looks from. She was tall like him- taller than her own mother, and much taller than herself- with long, chestnut brown hair and a sun-kissed complexion that seemed out of place in the city. She was dress casually in jeans and a light cardigan, a pair of pristine Keds on her feet and an apron to boot. She looked like something out of a magazine.  
"So for the project we have to have a fake business. We're gonna sell muffins, do you have any recipes?" started Lucas, trying to change the direction of the conversation.  
"That sounds like a wonderful assignment!" Mrs. Friar said, "I do have some recipes for some organic muffins, I can go pick up the ingredients for you guys, I was going to run to the store anyway."  
"Are you sure?" Maya asked, "We wouldn't want to put you out or anything."  
Lucas looked incredulously at the girl next to him. She was being so, so polite. It was a bit strange, but he appreciated the effort she was putting in with his mother. He didn't need _either_ of them to embarrass him any further.  
"Oh, well aren't you a darling!" Mrs. Friar gushed, "It won't be a thing, y'all could pay me back when you're done."  
"That'd be great," Maya smiled graciously, "That's so nice of you."  
"That's what moms are for!" Mrs. Friar gushed, not noticing her son's and the blonde girl's faces and reactions to her unintentional comment.  
"If you say so," smiled the Hart girl, jaw clenched tightly.  
"We're gonna go study in the living room, okay?" Lucas told his mother, gently pushing Maya in that direction. He knew she wouldn't like him drawing attention to the mom issue, so he just avoided it.  
"Okay," she answered, "I'll be back in a bit, help yourself to anything in the kitchen, and Maya, it was just lovely to meet you, Sugar."  
"Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Friar," the blonde replied, "Thank you again for your help!"  
"No problem, Sweetie," the hostess answered with a grin, "Lucas, I like this one, keep her around."  
"Will do ma'am," the boy answered, blushing more and more as the visit went on.

"You're mom's really great," Maya said when the woman had left the apartment, "you're lucky."  
"She likes you," came the response.  
"She just doesn't know me yet," answered the girl with a wicked grin.  
"You think you're so bad-" he started, signing deeply, but she cut him off.  
"Let's do the math homework," she interrupted.  
"I already did it," he replied.  
"I know," she smirked, "I wanna copy your answers."  
And just like that the friendly, polite girl was gone replaced by the one he knows and- oh, he'd been about to say _loves,_ wasn't he. That's strange.  
Instead of thinking about it, he silently hands her the math sheet, and she copies it equally wordlessly, her handwriting graceful and sure as she glides across the loose leaf.

Leave it to _her_ to make copying homework look like a damn work of art.

And then before he'd even realized it, his mom was back and Nice-Maya was too, thanking his mother and helping her put away the groceries. It was crazy what being treated nicely could do to the girl.


End file.
